New American Library

Half a century before e-books turned publishing upside down, a different format threatened to destroy the industry.

Here's a little perspective: In 1939, gas cost 10 cents a gallon at the pump. A movie ticket set you back 20 cents. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, the year's bestselling hardcover book, was $2.75. For a nation suffering 20 percent unemployment, books were an impossible expense.

But in just one day, Robert de Graff changed that. On June 19, 1939, the tall, dynamic entrepreneur took out a bold, full-page ad in The New York Times

Bookish (www.bookish.com) a one-stop, comprehensive online destination designed to connect readers with books and authors, launches today, providing visitors with exclusive content and insider access to A-list writers. Notable launch stories include: A joint interview with legendary crime fiction writer Michael Connelly and prize-winning suspense author Michael Koryta, revealing that Connelly had begun a book centering on a school shooting prior to the tragedy in Sandy Hook. The article also features juicy tidbits about both Connelly and Koryta’s upcoming books: www.bookish.com/connelly

CafePress Inc. (PRSS), The World's Customization Engine, has partnered with publisher Penguin Group (USA) to launch a new online store featuring a curated selection of products showcasing more than 80 years of stories that have sparked young readers' imaginations. Whether it's Corduroy's unplanned adventures, Froggy's continual mishaps or Ladybug Girl's endless imagination, children love todevour anything and everything about their favorite fictional characters.

Penguin Group (USA) announced today the release of its Holiday eSampler featuring excerpts from over 40 frontlist, backlist, and upcoming titles. Available for free wherever eBooks are sold, this collection provides readers with the opportunity to browse sample chapters of a variety of adult and young adult books across genres: from bestselling thrillers and critically-acclaimed

Quad/GraphicS, which has expanded its digital book production capacity by more than 500 percent this year, announces a new agreement with Penguin Group (USA) Inc., one of the leading U.S. adult and children’s trade book publishers, for short-run and print-on-demand production of Penguin’s U.S. trade hardcover, trade paperback and mass market books. The agreement covers all of Penguin’s imprints.

(Press Release) New York, New York, February 15, 2011—Penguin Group (USA) is teaming up with NetGalley to deliver galleys and promotional materials digitally.

While the Hispanic population in the United States is expected to expand to nearly 50 million by 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, current purchasing patterns indicate that this 16 percent of the nation may not buy books at the same rate as the remaining 84 percent.

Len Kain, vice president of marketing, Dogfriendly.com, knows firsthand how much of a gamble fulfillment can be in the book business. While he’s figured out a system for just the right level of inventory, he concedes it can be a roll of the dice. As a small publisher, he’s learned to play the game of fulfillment and returns to his best advantage—to reduce losses and increase gains. For him, as for larger publishers and also distributors, developing efficient warehouse fulfillment and return procedures can involve a healthy run of trial and error. So what is working and what isn’t? Book Business interviewed two